Short story about Stingy Jack
Stingy Jack is King of bad men. He's done every possible sin, but the worst would have to be when he made a deal with the devil. It was one-hundred and fifty years ago today. Stingy Jack had just left the tavern and had begun down a dark alley way. Out of nowhere a gun fired and the bullet grazed Jack's arm. Realizing how close Jack had been to death, Jack raced home clutching his arm. the next week Jack was scared of everything. He jumped at every sound and shadow. Then one night while at the tavern Stingy Jack nursed his drink, he overheard a new comer talking to his companion.
"You needn't be afraid if you make a deal with the devil, he will grant you, your most deepest desire. If you make a deal with the devil you can ask for anything in the world," the new comer said with a wicked grin.
Stingy Jack who had been cautious about his impending mortality thought that making a deal with the devil sounded like a good way out. Stingy Jack waited for the new comer and his companion to leave then he followed. Jack stayed a block behind them. They walked all over town then headed towards the woods, and that is where he lost sight of them.
The new comer and his companion had stood out at the tavern. The new comer's companion looked like any other merchant but he had an air about him. You were supposed to notice him. he wasn't one to hide in the background. The new comer was very different from his companion. The new comer had a long face, square chin, eyes that glinted at chaos. His clothes were different than the normal person's. He wore dark purple velvet jacket, a black vest, black pants, and black shoes. He also had a matching velvet purple top hat. There was power around that man.
Stingy Jack continued on walking in the forest. Hoping that he could find the man in the purple top hat and ask how to make a deal with the devil. Jack walked for what felt like hours before he stumbled into a clearing. The moon was full and the skies are clear. The light from the moon illuminated the clearing perfectly so Stingy Jack could see the man in the purple top hat clearly, standing in the middle of the clearing.
"You have been following me for hours now, what is it you seek," the man in the purple top hat asked.
"I want to make a deal with the devil," Stingy Jack said. He tried to sound brave but came off as weak. The air around the man visible moved. The power was coming off in waves, slithering and withering in the air. The man smiled an unnaturally large grin with sharp pointed teeth.
"Step a little closer, and lets talk about this deal," the man's voice changed, deepening and having an otherworldly quality to it.
Before Stingy Jack could move the man in the purple top hat was standing in front of him. Jack startled stumbled back. the man had a brimstone smell to him and his skin was taking on a pinkish hue as if he'd been burned.
"Wh-who are you," Stingy Jack stammered out.
"I am the one and only Lucifer, the devil himself," the man said taking a bow and sweeping his arms wide. The man had taken off his hat which revealed two horns protruding from his head. Stingy Jack gasped, terrified. He stood completely rooted to place, trembling. Stingy Jack knew that he had to play this right. He had to be smarter than the devil. If he was going to deal he was going to win.
"I want you to give what I want most," Stingy Jack said mustering up all his courage.
"And what can I have in return," the devil questioned. Stingy Jack stood there and puzzled over what he could offer the devil in return for what Jack wanted most. After several minutes the devil said, "I know, how about you give me your soul and I give you what you want?"
"Ok," Stingy Jack said shaking the devils hand and signing the contract the devil pulled out of his jacket. The devil laugh menacingly, snatched the contract and stuffed it into his jacket.
"What is it that you most desire," the devil laughed.
"What I most desire is never to go to hell," Stingy Jack said with a grin of his own. He had done it! He had outsmarted the devil. The grin slowly slipped from the devil's lips A snarl soon replaced it. The power radiating from the man intensified. Broiling heat flowed in waves off the devil. His skin took on a more reddish hue and his features changed and elongated.
"You think you're so smart, we'll see who's the smart one," the devil shouted and disappeared.
A cloud moved over the sun casting the forest in the dark. Stingy Jack turned back the way he came. He was overcome with a tiredness he never knew before. All Stingy Jack could think of was getting into his nice warm bed and sleeping off his hangover. Jack didn't notice that he was stumbling nor did he notice the cliff edge.
Stingy Jack's death was silent and unnoticed. He rotted away, no one ever knowing what happened to him. Stingy Jack's soul rose up to the heavens only to have St. Peter turn him away. Jack wandered down to the entrance to hell where the devil met him.
"You thought you could outsmart me, but you were wrong," the devil said with a smirk.
"So you will take my soul to hell," asked Stingy Jack's Ghost.
"Oh no, no, no. We made a deal. You aren't to come to hell."
"Where am I to go? Heaven won't have me and I can't come here."
"My guess is you will have to roam the Earth, lost forever. But here as a token of good faith, some hellfire to lead your way," the devil handed over a lantern lit with hellfire.
Stingy Jack did as the devil said and roamed the Earth with his lantern. All who saw him and his lantern talked, not soon after Stingy Jack was renamed Jack-o-lantern.
The End.